外文名称: Wuhan City 

Lying in the eastern part of Hubei Province and at the confluence of the Yangtze River and Hanjiang River,
Wuhan is divided by the two rivers into three parts - Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang, which have been called the "Three Towns of Wuhan",
standing like three legs of a tripod. Wuhan is located in the Jianghan Plain - an alluvial plain formed by rivers and lakes. Under the
sub-topical monsoon climate and being rich in water resources, Wuhan is known as a "city with hundreds of lakes" for its vast water area of
2,137 sq km, accounting for one quarter of its land area. Its fresh water area ranks first among Chinese cities.

Wuhan has a long history. The city's ancient Panlong town has a history of over 3,500 years. Hankou was rated one of "the four famed towns under the heaven" for its position of "Thoroughfare of Nine provinces" with developed business radiating to its rim and neighboring provinces. The Hankou Town, called "Chicago of the orient", has been the largest trade port in the inland of China. Wuhan has become one of China's four economic centers only second to Shanghai, enjoying the same popularity as Guangzhou and Tianjin.

Situated in the center of China's hinterland, Wuhan has a good transport network composed of railways, highways and air routes linking the city to all other large and medium sized cities in the country. It covers an area of 8,549 sq km, including an urban area of 864 sq km. At the end of 1996, it had a population of 7.18 million, including 3.7251 million urban residents.

Thanks to the drive of deepening reform and opening to the outside world, Wuhan's economy has grown rapidly. In 1987, it formulated the fundamental policy of "invigorating Wuhan through reforms". Beginning from 1992, the reform measures mainly shifted to the restructuring of the state-owned enterprises in the following five areas: changing the ownership of some enterprises by adopting the shareholding system; developing and enlarging some enterprises groups; using foreign funds to improve some enterprises; merging, declaring bankruptcy, leasing, selling some state-owned enterprises and transferring the property rights with diverse ownership of some state-owned enterprises, as well as accelerating the growth of the tertiary industry. At the same time, the city put emphasis on establishing "foreign-funded enterprises in three forms of ventures", village and township enterprises, district and community enterprises, private-owned enterprises, private-operated technological enterprises and the tertiary industry, in order to create new economic increase source. As a result, the city's economy reported fast growth in the 1990s. Its economic strength has reached a new level and its economic structure is gradually tending toward coordination, with the ratio of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries to the GDP standing at 9.2: 46.8: 44.

Located on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River emptying into the East China Sea, Wuhan performs the same functions as a coastal city. Along with the development of the whole Yangtze River Economic Belt and the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, the city will have brighter prospects for economic development. The two state-level development zones of the city, the Donghu New & High-Tech Industrial Development Zone and the Tunkou Economic and Technological Development Zone, have given full play to the vigor of its economy by attracting a great number of foreign investors.

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